the business ethics

The corporate culture and values that govern an organization are defined by business ethics. These ideals define the basic beliefs and goals that drive the workforce's behavior. The public's perception of the company is heavily influenced by its ethical values. Companies are having difficulty adhering to ethical standards such as transparency, dignity, professional ethics, and environmental considerations. Society and other stakeholders in the corporate community are seeking transparency for organizations' actions. A company owes society a duty to provide raw materials in addition to goods and services. As a result, companies engage in corporate social responsibility as an appreciation to the society. The food industry has come out strongly as one of the sectors that participate in social responsibility. Corporate social responsibility in Domino’s Pizza, a multinational food chain store, is an area of interest throughout this essay.

Domino's Pizza

Domino`s Pizza is a fast food company established in 1960 in Michigan, the United States that serves as the primary office of Domino`s company. Its primary objective is to be the leading fast-food company that delivers Pizza to the customers' convenience all over the world. The company was started by two brothers Tom and James Monaghan (Domino's, n.d.). Tom took a turnaround of the business by refurbishing the small Michigan Pizzeria and changed its name to Domino’s Pizza. By the 1970's Domino's pizza had the largest market share of fast foods in America with more than 200 franchise pizza businesses. By 1963, Dominion had established its first international branch at Winnipeg and later, it opened more outlets. It aims at giving high quality pizzas and consistent service delivery.

Dominos provides only one type of pizza commonly referred to as regular pizza various varieties such as traditional, specialty, and custom. In 1989, the Dominos menu changed, and for the first time, they introduced deep pan pizza due to the market demand and competition forces. The strategy to grow the company led to the establishment of non-pizza food products on its menu such as breadsticks. In 1994, the company diversified its menu and introduced chicken wings that it increased its customer base. In the American market, the company offers foods such as Italian –American main and side dishes. The firm provides different products to satisfy the various market segments that have different customers with varied tastes and preferences. The management of Dominos has a lot of concern about teamwork and the customer's safety and security. It values its employees and advocates for collaboration to ensure all the activities are carried out efficiently. The main objective of the company is to create and maintain beneficial relationships such as franchisee and partnership.

Stakeholders of Domino’s Pizza

The stakeholders of Domino’s Pizza are divided into two the internal and external. They facilitate the operations of the company. The internal stakeholders are the employees, managers, and shareholders. The external stakeholders are the customers, suppliers, society as the whole and local communities. In the 21st Century, customers, employees, the government, and shareholders are the principal stakeholders of Domino’s Pizza (Google Sites, n.d.). Public enterprises were well-known to give the shareholders too much attention when compared to their private counterparts who value customers. Domino`s success is connected to timely communication with its shareholders. The corporate governance strategy aims at making more profits by drafting strategies to increase the value of the company. In the 21st century, Domino’s Pizza ensures that customer’s needs and wants are their priority. The firm creates a long-term relationship with its customers guarantees the company`s survival and future profitability. Through their feedback, the business can improve on its customer services. Dominion has a customer care desk where customers feedback and complain can be received and worked upon.

Furthermore, employees are also important stakeholders at Domino’s Pizza. The human resource is the backbone of the company’s success. The company creates a favorable working environment that is free and fair from any form of harassment or discrimination. Employees participate in the decision-making process. Domino’s workforce offers the best customer services. The human resource department recruits highly qualified personnel who have vast experience in the food industry. The company encourages innovation and creativity among the employees by offering training and exposing them to different environments. Domino’s Pizza has developed clear guidelines and work ethics to be followed by employees.

In Domino’s Pizza, the various department managers together with the board of directors help run the company efficiently. The head of departments helps to monitor the multiple sectors and ensure success. The government is a vital stakeholder as it makes rule and policies concerning the health and safety in food preparation and consumption. The government sets standards for the employer, employees, and the union to operate together. The government regulates the industry by offering necessary infrastructure such as proper communication channels. These facilities help to ease the timely delivery of pizza to the customers. Finally, the community are the main providers of the resources, for example, raw material, labor which are used in production. The companies should ethically give back to the community through donations and charity. The city expects the company to uphold virtues such as honesty and highly discourage vices.

Corporate Social Responsibility

A good company’s social responsibility takes account of the expectations of all stakeholders and is incorporated into the organization’s ethical practices. CSR policy acts as a regulatory technique that ensures enterprises are bound to local and international law and procedures. The team needs to carry out CSR to the society because of the following reasons: they utilize their natural resources in the production process, to provide job opportunities to the local people and to distribute wealth among the shareholders and the employees. Arguments have been put forth to support the participation of companies in CSR whereas others have come out to strongly condemn this activity.

Companies argue that CSR is the right thing to do. Some of the problems faced by the community are contributed by the companies such as pollution and low wages. Businesses engage in CSR to help reduce and correct these challenges. Also, organizations have enough resources to help eliminate the challenges. Companies engage in corporate social responsibility to prevent the government from developing rules that regulate pollution (Crane, 2008, pp. 90-120). The managers engage in professionalism by engaging in social values and the major concern for community. A good company encourages growth and behaves by the most recent social responsibilities to achieve the forecasted goals.

Finally, it is highly profitable to the company and helps create a good reputation and build shareholder value by helping solve problems in the community. The organizations that engage in corporate social responsibility have better reputation against their competitors. It is taken as an opportunity to gain profits and help the world together. Companies that advocate for sustainability have the best interest to develop a method to solve these challenges (Forte, 2013, p. 819). If the argument for social responsibility were implemented, corporate social responsibility would be irrelevant.

The critics of social responsibility argue that firms should be profit-oriented and the government and the non-profit organizations should help solve these problems. Milton Friedman claims that free markets should make what is best for the globe rather than the business. Another argument is that companies should concentrate on manufacturing products and services instead of handling social problems. Also, if the manager focuses on the CSR, they neglect their management role. A company’s shareholders are against CSR because the management uses their resources to implement projects that are against their wishes and rights. The critics argue that there no specific measures of CSR in which companies to engage in (Saleem, et al., 2016, p. 947). There are is specific criteria of identifying the resources to be committed towards the project and the interest it holds for all stakeholders. Finally, CSR activities are a waste of resources such as donating finances and ensuring products and services safety. This creates economic disorder where the rich are willing to buy at the top rates while the poor are not in a position to purchase.

Business Ethics Theories

Business leaders make right decisions by understanding the business ethics theories. There are numerous theories that have been set forth after a lot of research on business ethics. They include the deontological, utilitarianism, morality, and virtue theories. First, the deontological ethics, also known as ethics of duty, argues that actions are not right or wrong based on their result, but rather because they are internally good or evil (Ransome & Samford, 2011, pp. 36-45). The utilitarianism theory advocates for ethical behavior that benefits the majority. The third argument is on morality that identifies the terms and conditions that people consider as good or bad due to their inherent values. The final theory is the virtue and vice that is based on attributes such as honesty while eliminating vices such as dishonesty.

Assessment of Domino’s Pizza’s CSR

Domino’s Pizza is a multinational company that uses different corporate social responsibility strategies in different countries. This is due to the different economic status and needs of these nations. Domino’s Pizza uses the following internal and external factors to recommend an individual approach of CSR. First, the external structure considers the social and economic wants of the society in which they are located. Second, the foreign actors are organizations that influence the operation of the company positively or negatively (Domino's, 2014). The fear to lose the company's reputation due to less social participation may force companies to make the company consider social issues. These external factors include government agencies, international and regional bodies.

Internal factors also contribute to determining the strategy of social corporate responsibility. First and foremost, the internal structure of the company integrates CSR in all its activities. This will ensure other stakeholders such as suppliers participate in CSR. Second, the internal actors are the individual perception and beliefs that managers consider before making a decision. A manager limits employee's engagement in the CSR activities. It is essential for the staff to participate in CSR issues. For example, Domino’s carried out CSR in Malaysia by supporting the education program that supplements education system through co-curricular activities and financial sponsorship (Domino's, 2014). The program trains the students on improving their co-curricular skills and competencies through seminars.

They have support projects that help the poor students who are located within the Domino’s Pizza shop. It engages in fundraising incentive scheme to reward the schools that actively participate in the Domino`s fundraising program. Annual charity drives to give joy and hope to the disadvantaged during the festive season. These programs are aimed at supporting the nation's growth and development of the less disadvantaged. In America, Domino’s Pizza has been involved in the following charity work: Domino`s created a two-year partnership with Make-A- wish foundation of Americans in 2001. In the same year, it donated pizzas to disaster rescuing persons following the bombing of world trade center and the Pentagon. The company also gave financial aid to American Red Cross to assist in disaster management. In 2014 the company participated a fundraising for St. Jude Children`s Hospital Research Hospital.

The ethical theory of utilitarianism is based on the probability to forecast the effects of an action. According to Domino`s, the management engages in activities that produce the most significant advantages to the majority is ethically correct. Act utilitarianism is where an individual performs an act that benefits the majority, despite the personal feeling are other constraints. A rule utilitarianism person acts in a manner that helps the majority through the just and fairest means. Both the act and rule utilitarianism have limitation that it's not easy to predict the actual outcome of the activity. An act utilitarian person makes decisions that are aimed at achieving maximum good. The uncertainty of factors is the most significant challenge for Act utilitarian decision makers as their decision s may vary according to the prevailing conditions.

The effectiveness of the CSR programs can be measured in the following ways: profitability growth, increase in the firm’s value, and benchmarking. The primary reason why Domino’s Pizza engages in CSR is to increase its profits by making more sales. The management invests their funds in CSR programs that create the positive long-term effects on the firm's value through promoting innovation, attracting high quality labor, retaining customers, reducing manufacturing costs, and building an excellent reputation for the company. CSR motivates the stakeholders such as managers, employees and customers. They have life goals that drive them when giving back to the society part of their wealth they have made through the company. Another measure of CSR efficiency is benchmarking with competitors to evaluate the level of their CSR activities.

Domino’s Pizza is making huge profits and opening new outlets all over the world. The firm has achieved its objective to expand operations to all continents in the world and be the leading fast-food company. The company is trying to penetrate the British market to increase its sales. Furthermore, the company has improved its customer relations by encouraging face to face interaction with their customers or through online platforms where they can place their orders and give feedback. These communication systems include the use of telephones, which is the fastest means of communication, and emails. The company creates creative advertisements which help to market the company. The organization has increased its speed and efficiency of Pizza production due to the large customer base. To increase the delivery speed, the company has recruited more drivers who are willing to driver far and faster. The company’s pricing strategy gives it a company competitive advantage in the market. Lowering the cost of Pizza encourages people to buy more pizza thus making huge sales.

The capability of a company to engage in CSR changes the customer's perception regarding the company. A well planned CSR strategy motivates the employees, it helps reduce costs and helps maintain the high competitive edge. The following methods can be used to sustain and grow CSR programs: practicing honesty and supporting innovation. In the current information age customers can acquire information about the company operations. The only way to gain trust from the customers is being openly transparent. Furthermore, the company should also support innovation Create a working condition for the employees that encourage them to be creative and innovative. The management should give a chance to employees to give their opinions and suggestions. Finally, they should be direct participants by buying raw materials from the local people and offering employment opportunities.

Social Enterprises

Social enterprises are organizations that carry out business to help solve social problems, develop societies and provide employment opportunities. The social enterprises are objected to help solve problems in the world. Domino’s Pizza can initiate the an innovation strategy where that will help solve social problems by encouraging creativity and innovation like development of clean energy. Furthermore, the company can employ the poor and disadvantaged in the society. This method gives equal opportunities to all its pizza customers.

One of the benefits of social enterprises is that they help companies to improve on their relationship with the business and the community. Social enterprises acquire funding from the owner to facilitate their objectives. The primary objective of social initiatives is to increase the living standards of the people. Secondly, it is easy for social enterprises to receive donations from organizations that have similar goals. Most philanthropic finances are distributed to non-profit making organizations. Thirdly, the social enterprise has a single source of information that is easily accessible and transparent. Using a common data source creates a good relationship with all concerned stakeholders.

The main disadvantage of social enterprises is that it is a new business model, therefore, it is prone to scrutiny regarding its objectives and value to the society. Most uncertainties and negative criticism from the public reduces the chances of getting an investor. The companies are highly risky, and few people are willing to invest and grow the hybrid organizations. Furthermore, the enterprise has poor communication channels thus people lack information about the business venture. Most of the people support the idea of establishing a non-profit making organization or profit business instead of social plans. Business partnership occurs where there is free flow of information between the two partners.

Social enterprises have existed for long, but they have not been able to penetrate the market due to fierce competition from traditional businesses. Companies have been encouraged to use internal social methods of working through transparency and, openness and communication (Ridley-Duff & Bull, 2011, p. 200). Social enterprises lack of funds since they are established as non-profit or profit-making organizations. Most of them are not able to generate enough profits from the sale of their products and services. Non-profit making venture have difficulties obtaining financial assistance Also, donors lose trust with social enterprises as they are perceived to make more wealth than they engage in social activities.

Secondly, social enterprises do not communicate their objectives to its stakeholders. Social companies mostly concentrate on solving societies problems thus attract passion for social entrepreneurs. The social value cannot be measured thus, it is difficult to measure its impact on the society and communicate to the stakeholders. Third, social enterprises are not able to express their strategies and long-term focus because they businesses are created for social benefit. These objectives are valued regarding the social interest instead of cost provision. A reliable technique will show a particular proposition compared to other businesses. Additionally, it is difficult to establish partnership due to the differing goals with other entities. This slows down the operational performance of the social enterprises. The social enterprises are optimistic about the future which is a good business approach. Second, it is important for organizations to appreciate the role society contributes to their survival thus, it is important to help solve the challenges they face. The philanthropist should give their contribution to social enterprises to facilitate the organization to achieve its goals.



















References

Crane, A., 2008. The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility. 3rd Editions ed. London: Oxford Handbooks Online.

Domino's, 2014. Corporate Social Responsiblity Report, Michigan: Domino's Pizza.

Domino's, n.d. About Domino's: History. [Online] Available at: https://biz.dominos.com/web/public/about-dominos/history[Accessed 25 November 2017].

Forte, A., 2013. International Business & Economics Research Journal, 12(7), pp. 815-824.

Google Sites, n.d. Stakeholders. [Online] Available at: https://sites.google.com/site/foodwasteatdominion/home/stakeholders[Accessed 25 November 2017].

Ransome, W. & Samford, C., 2011. Ethics and Socially Responsible Investment. London: Routledge.

Ridley-Duff, R. & Bull, M., 2011. Understanding Social Enterprise Theory & Practice. New York: Sage.

Saleem, S., Kumar, A. & Shahid, A., 2016. Arguments against Corporate Social Reponsibility. Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, 2(8), pp. 946-950.